Argus Article - 8/15

American team gets 6-3 victory over B.C. club

By Ken Jackson
SPECIAL TO ANG NEWSPAPERS

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- For six innings Monday it wasn't pretty, but Steve Orias will take the victory anyway.

Union City American, representing USA West at the Senior League World Series in Kissimmee, Fla., took advantage of five Walley, British Columbia errors to win, 6-3.

Pitching again was the big story for Union City, as Ryan Lew (5-0) pitched a strong four-hitter, striking out five, despite the offense getting just one hit to cushion him through six innings.

"The key for me was to stay positive," Lew said. "Even though we weren't hitting, my guys backed me up."

The win keeps Union City in the friendly confines of the winners' bracket. Manny Espinoza (4-0) will take the mound tonight in a showdown with Des Moines, Iowa -- a 5-3 winner over Agana, Guam -- at 7:30 p.m. EDT at Osceola County Stadium.

Orias said his team was able to take advantage of every mistake Walley offered them Monday.

"We were never down, even though we weren't hitting," he said. "Our two games so far have been a little ugly. To win them is a sign of a good team."

Union City scored twice in the top of the first without a hit. Three errors, a walk and a hit batter helped bring in Lamont Oakley and J.R. Raymond.

Canada Coach Craig Tessier said waiting almost two days to play the first game hurt his team.

"It was nerves. We gave this one away," he said. "We did this in the Canadian regional also. We had five kids that had never been on a plane before coming down here, and we played a team that had already played on this field. We'll be OK."

Tessier's team did get a run back in the bottom of the first on pitcher Jesse Peters' RBI single. They tied it at 2 when a throwing error allowed catcher Johnny Yiu to score.

Union City took the lead back in the fifth. Noel Berumen reached first on a dropped third strike, and after Raymond delivered the team's first hit, Berumen scored on Walley's fourth error of the game.

The team broke it open in the seventh, scoring three runs on four hits, highlighted by Mike Armstrong's RBI triple, which chased Peters from the game. Raymond and Brian Amyx added RBI singles. Raymond's hit brought home Shawn Orias, who led off the inning with a bunt single.

Union City pushed its postseason mark to 17-1 with the win, but a combination of the cold hitting early on and three errors of their own didn't make this one of their best outings. Orias said he didn't mind winning in such a manner, but hoped his team's true colors would show today against Iowa.

"From what I saw (Monday), they are a good, fundamental team," he said of Des Moines. "We're going to try to play our A-game against them and see what happens."

The loss dropped the Canadians into the loser's bracket, where they will play either Winter Park, Fla., or Newark, Del., on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Union City defeated Winter Park on Sunday and Newark lost to Panama City, Panama, 4-2.

In other Monday action, Pinellas Park, Fla. defeated Ramstein, Germany, 15-0.

Today, Germany plays Guam at 10:30 a.m., and Panama City faces Pinellas Park at 4:30 p.m. A Union City win today would pit Union City against the Panama-Pinellas winner at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.